Then I turned my face to the Lord God

O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name. - Dan 9:19

Daniel (the man, not the book) always blows me away.  Here is a man thousands of miles away from home, a captive in a foreign culture and yet he takes his faith and lives it out in a transparent and obvious way. Yet, with each success, he gives glory to God and dives in for more.

The witness of Daniel's life and the prayer recorded in chapter 9, prompt in me two questions:

1) What would my prayers be like if I could honestly, openly pray like Daniel out of the overflow of my heart?

2) What would my life be like if I could live in the same dependent, trusting, reverent-fear driven faith that Daniel had?

I have don't have the answers. Maybe God, by his grace, will reveal a portion to me in due course. I do have some Scripture based musings that may lead me back to praying more deeply and depending more fully.

Daniel's prayer is borne out of a life of devotion to God and to his word. Daniel candidly admits when he and his people failed God. Yet in spite of that reality, he pleads with God to continue to be faithful and fulfill His promises. I think this is where I often drop the ball, somehow thinking God knows what I need, so He will just do what is best. Yet, He commands us to pray and has given us tremendous models, both inside and outside of Scripture. God will act, but He often chooses to act in response to prayer.

If Daniel's prayers are the pinnacles that draw us to him and point us beyond him to God, how much more does his life of faithfulness show us what true devotion and reverent fear look like in the life of the believer? Please don't hear me say that we all need to live like Daniel. Rather, hear me say: look to Daniel's faith. Look to the awe he had for God. And most importantly look to God himself. See what Daniel saw. Hear what Daniel heard. Trust completely in the One Daniel trusted in completely.

To God Alone be the Glory